Navigating the world of ecommerce, and finding places to sell online, without a map can be challenging.
But, if you are looking to expand your horizons and sell on all marketplaces that fit your model, then you have landed on the right page. By starting your research here, you will get an overview of the current ecommerce landscape and be able to create an effective short list of all the avenues available.
We loved hearing your suggestions in the comments and included several of them below!
Whether you’re looking for a platform to build your store or an existing marketplace to sell your products in, we have some great suggestions.
Here are some of the best places to sell online:
Best places to sell online
Finding places to sell online often involves creating your own eCommerce website.
An ecommerce website gives you the most control over your product’s commercialization, but it may not give you as much exposure as the global marketplaces.
Building your store from scratch gives you flexibility, access to custom tools, and analytics, but you have to put more energy into your marketing efforts to build your audience.
Here are some of the best places to sell online:
The Big Platforms
1. Shopify
Best for: Selling anything
Shopify aims to be on the cutting-edge of UX design and makes setting up a shop super easy.
It has a beautiful admin interface, over a hundred mobile responsive themes and loads of amazing Shopify apps for all your ecommerce needs. They even have an in-house designed credit card reader.
Shopify caters to all sellers of consumer goods, which makes it one of the best places to sell online.
2. BigCommerce
Best for: Building powerful stores for any brand
One of the very best ecommerce platforms with impeccable support and powerful integrations, BigCommerce is built for pros. This platform builds stores for brands like Toyota and Payless.
They’ve also recently released their Page Builder, allowing merchants to customize their storefront’s look and feel without needing a developer.
3. Magento
Best for: Building any type of ecommerce store
Magento was originally owned by eBay, but was recently acquired by Adobe. It boasts some powerful tools and apps.
It gives you the flexibility and customization that comes with open source ecommerce platforms.
This is a strong platform that serves brands like Coca-Cola and Burger King.
Other Top Platforms
4. 3dcart
Best for: Anything eCommerce
An all-encompassing solution for one-man teams and serious marketers alike.
If you are looking for a customizable, responsive, and scalable solution to all your ecommerce needs, 3dcart offers powerful support and a wealthy selection of apps.
This platform supports a range of industries from tech to designer watches.
5. Volusion
Best for: Selling any product or service under the sun
$26 billion in products have been sold on sites built with Volusion to date and counting.
The platform encompasses everything a seller might need from marketing to analytics and optimization tools.
This is another powerful builder for selling any product and one of the top places to sell online.
[2020 Update: As of July 27, 2020, Volusion filed for Chapter 11 Protection. As per the company, the filing was intended to “as an effort to recapitalize the company, fund future innovation, and strengthen our balance sheet.”]
6. Drupal
Best for: Super high-end ecommerce solutions
If you are looking for some serious back-end and front-end infrastructure, Drupal offers customizable architectural solutions.
It goes beyond just being a platform and hosts a community of developers that can take your store to the next level.
Drupal can resolve any challenge, including network television and multi-screen cinematic experiences.
7. Squarespace
Best for: Small businesses and boutiques
This platform takes a minimalistic, beautiful and functional approach.
You can build your store using its intuitive interface with access to thousands of stock images and design your logo with Squarespace’s icon database.
Set up includes a mobile app, analytics, and a developer platform.
8. WooCommerce
Best for: Large-scale retailers of consumer goods
If you are looking for a flexible and customizable place to sell online, WooCommerce’s open source platform is for you.
You have a lot of plugins and integrations at your disposal – some free, some paid – but you will have to manage your own hosting and security.
9. Weebly
Best for: Green entrepreneurs and SaaS startups
If you like to keep it simple and focus on marketing rather than on tech trickery, Weebly is your best bet.
You get a site, mobile app, marketing tools, and access to a constellation of integrations.
10. Selz
Best for: Products book-sized or smaller and new businesses
Selz has all the basic tools you need to create and run a store and is wonderfully simple to use.
There are no monthly fees, only transaction fees when you make a sale.
11. LemonStand
Best for: Professional sellers with big ideas
This platform is geared towards the pros. It’s highly customizable and built ready to scale your store to make you a leader.
LemonStand is all about growth so it’s a great place for developing a new idea.
Sell anything, anywhere and get ready to grow.
[2020 Update: LemonStand was acquired by Mailchimp, and is no longer available]
12. Yo!Kart
Best for: Early stage startups
If you are looking to build an ecommerce ecosystem, then this is your provider.
Yo!Kart is a leader in building multi-vendor marketplaces that look good, scale and are completely customizable.
This platform is good for startups on lean budgets because of its competitive offers and 12 months of free tech support.
13. OpenCart
Best for: All things retail
This is an open source outfit aiming for full customization and offering all the tools to scale your operation.
OpenCart exhibits some muscle with powerful analytics, mobile-friendly sites, and it helps with your SEO.
14. Symphony Commerce
Best for: Building world-class stores and selling anything
Symphony offers an end-to-end solution with a fully-integrated platform and fulfillment centers across the US.
They can manage your entire consumer journey and boast 2-day delivery times.
Sell anything from skincare products to supplements.
15. Wix
Best for: Creative artisans, designers and crafters
This is one of the coolest ecommerce platforms for creatives from all walks of life – artists, designers, and crafters.
You can design your own store with great flexibility and customization, but promoting it is up to you.
This platform best works you have a large social media following or offline presence and can channel people to your store.
Exploring the Globe
16. EWDC
Best for: Indian Markets
Looking to build an online grocery store or a multi-vendor platform?
India-based EWDC offers solutions for all these.
This is a powerful end-to-end ecommerce platform – highly customizable, responsive, and optimized.
17. Linio
Best for: Latin American Markets
Linio is the biggest eCommerce platform in Latin America.
Up and running for about 4 years, it has more than 10,000 sellers and more than 3 million listed products.
It is based in Mexico but has a global outlook.
Sell anything from cosmetics to electronics.
Places to sell your goods online
Not interested in the hassle of setting up and maintaining your own eCommerce site?
Then a marketplace with a built-in store might be right for you.
Here are our top picks:
The Big Guys
18. eBay
Best for: Everything retail
Founded in 1998, eBay is the pioneer of ecommerce and a global player and leader in online sales.
It is one of the most established places to sell online, where you can buy or sell anything from second-hand clothes to cars.
As a seller, you can ask shoppers to bid on an item or buy it upfront.
eBay caters to just about any audience out there.
19. Amazon
Best for: Everything retail
Amazon dominates the market in the US.
It’s the go-to online store for your everyday needs as well as one of the best places to sell online.
It’s also been investing a great deal in worldwide expansion and cutting-edge technology, like one-hour drone deliveries with Amazon Prime Now.
You can sell anything under the sky on this marketplace.
20. Etsy
Best for: Homemade crafts; Vintage goods
Etsy is a full-service ecosystem that focuses mostly on the niche market for handmade crafts and vintage goods.
It’s also easy to create customized versions of your product to give your customers the unique style they’re looking for.
21. Alibaba
Best for: Everything retail, with some service offerings too
Alibaba is a Chinese giant that operates several marketplaces, including Taobao and TMall Global.
These websites allow sellers to list not only goods but services as well.
The company is increasingly looking outwards and inviting western sellers to employ its ecosystem.
Source: Alibaba
22. Sears
Best for: High-volume sellers
Sears has a very established marketplace with a large following, but it does require a monthly fee for you to make use of its infrastructure.
You can sell anything from clothes to electronics.
23. Rakuten
Best for: Everything retail
Rakuten is the 8th largest online marketplace in the world.
It promotes seller-buyer relationship building and aims to deliver outstanding shopping experiences.
With a strong emphasis on electronics, Rakuten also allows you to collect reward points and earn cash back!
Other top online marketplaces to sell online
24. eBid
Best for: Sellers with narrow margins
eBid was founded in 1999 and has over 14,000 product categories.
It is relatively inexpensive with no listing fees and commissions of up to 3%.
It is also an international player, operating in 23 countries and selling just about anything.
25. Craigslist
Best for: One-off product sales and services.
Not the best place for eCommerce listings but Craigslist has been around forever, has a global presence and is great for location-specific sales.
It is a good place to test a strategy, product or service.
26. eCRATER
Best for: Building a store and selling anything
This site is unique on our list for combining a store building platform with an online marketplace.
Despite providing both services, it is streamlined and easy to setup and use.
Your products are also listed on Google Shopping.
Source: eCRATER
27. Pricefall
Best for: High Volume Sellers
If you are looking for a large full-service marketplace with a wide range of categories, Pricefall is a great choice.
They even help you with digital marketing.
Pricefall has a yearly fee plus commission, so they are geared to high volume sellers.
[2020 Update: Pricefall was acquired by Canada’s largest retailer, Loblaw and is no longer available]
28. Sell.com
Best for: Miscellaneous items and home sellers
This is a Craigslist type of marketplace for products and services.
You can offer items with negotiable, fixed-price or no price ads if you’re not sure what an item is worth.
You can place ads for as little as $1-3 dollars for a 30-day listing.
29. Jet
Best for: Branded products with an established audience
Around only since 2015, Jet is a true newcomer to the eCommerce scene.
It strives for maximum optimization, bringing better prices to customers and better returns to sellers.
They have a membership model similar to Costco and only carry branded products.
Jet was recently acquired by Walmart.
30. Puerlla
Best for: Jewelry and creative accessories
Puerlla is also a relatively new player to online marketplaces.
Established in 2016, Puerlla prides itself on its global outlook.
This place to sell online is well adapted to high-volume sellers and artisans alike.
If you are a crafter or designer looking to sell jewelry or creative accessories, this is a good, hassle-free marketplace for you.
[2020 Update: As of 2020, Puerlla’s website is no longer available]
31. Instamal
Best for: Anything retail
Instamal is a well-established marketplace that is geared towards medium- and high-volume sellers.
Like the name suggests it hosts a wide range of categories from beauty products to electronics.
[2020 Update: As of 2020, Instamal’s site is no longer available]
Exploring the Globe
32. Fruugo
Best for: International brands
Fruugo is UK-based but has an international reach in 32 countries and accommodates 21 local currencies.
They aim to be a global player making the world one big marketplace.
They also host a wide range of international brands.
33. MercadoLibre
Best for: Latin American audiences
This is the Amazon of Latin America dominating the online marketplace and reaching most countries in South and Central America.
Listing here will give you access to one of the fastest growing eCommerce markets.
You can buy and sell anything from flowers to vehicles.
34. Flipkart
Best for: Indian audiences
Flipkart is India’s largest eCommerce player.
India has one of the most rapidly developing consumer markets and is growing exponentially.
Flipkart boasts a wide range of categories primarily for consumer goods.
Niche marketplaces to sell online
35. Newegg
Best for: Technology
Newegg specializes in mostly tech items. It has its own fulfillment centers across the US and offers end-to-end service.
Its commission varies between categories and tops out at 14%.
If you are looking for a hands-free fulfillment service so you can focus on branding, Newegg may be a good option for you.
36. Zibbet
Best for: New artisans
Zibbet is a newbie-friendly marketplace that has no transactions fees and is free for up to 10 products.
A “quiet alternative to Etsy”, it is dedicated to true artists and crafters and only sells handmade and vintage items.
If you are looking to try your hand at eCommerce, this is a great place sell online if you want to test the waters.
37. Cratejoy
Best for: Boxed subscription products
Cratejoy is riding the subscription boxes trend and has created its marketplace around it.
You can take part if you have an idea that fits the model (or in a box).
38. Folksy
Best for: High-volume sellers looking for a low-cost alternative
A quarter of a million buyers visit Folksy each month in search of handcrafted, artsy and creative goods.
The site’s fees are in the lower end of the spectrum, which makes it friendly to new sellers.
Folksy is currently limited to UK crafters, but they ship internationally.
39. Vide Dressing
Best for: High-end fashion
Vide Dressing is a C to C social marketplace for high-end fashion and is well adapted to low-volume sellers.
It’s based on a community of fashion lovers who buy and sell used clothing and accessories.
Members can sponsor a friend to join the community and enjoy its perks.
40. Style Lend
Best for: Rental of designer dresses
If you have amassed a treasure trove of designer dresses, you can make them work for you on Style Lend by renting them out for about 10% of what they cost.
The items have to be less than two years of age and only a select list of brands is accepted.
41. CustomMade
Best for: High-end, custom artisan products
CustomMade’s marketplace is a platform for artisans from around the world. If you are a crafter of quality jewelry, furniture or home décor this is a great place to sell online.
You can set up shop and make custom products for your buyers.
42. RebelsMarket
Best for: Punk rock, heavy metal, and goth clothing and accessories
This is an elegant combination of a marketplace and a platform with a highly curated product selection that focuses on alternative culture and rebellious styles.
The store setup is easy and streamlined, and you only pay transaction fees. This makes it one of the best, almost free places to sell online.
RebelsMarket boasts more than 7 million buyers.
43. Aftcra
Best for: US-based artisans
Similar to Folksy, this site only sells handmade products made from artisans and artists in the US.
It is very user-centric, supportive and family-like.
It is also beginner-friendly with reasonable fees.
44. CafePress
Best for: Designers who want a hands-off approach
If you are a designer that is looking to completely delegate manufacturing and fulfillment, then CafePress is perfect for you.
The site specializes in unique designs and products and ships everything from its fulfillment center in the US.
Low cost- and low volume-friendly marketplaces
45. Tictail
Best for: Small startups or solo artists
If you are a small brand, an artist or a crafter, this is the perfect platform for you.
It is free, easy, and international.
You can also use Tictail to manage your social media channels or create weekly newsletters.
Source: Tictail
[2020 Update: Tictail was acquired by Shopify and is no longer available]
46. Bonanza
Best for: Sunglasses and souvenir type fare
Bonanza is another low-cost, shopper-friendly marketplace that is a good way to start out.
You can easily import your inventory from eBay, Amazon, and Shopify.
It also offers customizable marketing tools and allows access to Google Shopping for a higher fee.
Promoted as the best alternative to eBay, it was even voted the Most Recommended Marketplace several years in a row in ECommerceBytes’s annual survey of sellers.
47. Depop
Best for: Sellers who want a low-maintenance selling option
Depop is one of those great places to sell online and get a taste of selling without investing too many resources.
The point-and-shoot simplicity of this mobile marketplace makes it into a thriving community for selling and buying vintage clothes, shoes and pop culture items.
All you need is the app to take a picture, and Depop takes care of the rest.
You also get a link that you can easily promote on your social media channels.
48. BriskSale
Best for: Anything home-related
Billing itself as “Crowdsourced Marketing”, BriskSale is totally free and offers a customizable storefront with fixed URL, live analytics, and tools like product discount codes.
BriskSellers on the site scan the products you list and give you extra marketing for the ones they think they can sell.
They earn a commission, while you benefit from their targeted, motivated marketing.
49. OfferItem
Best for: New sellers looking for low-commitment
OfferItem is another free-to-sell site that also submits your products to Bing Shopping and Google Shopping.
So if you are looking for a low-cost site to try out, this might be the place to start selling online.
This site boasts a wide range of products and service listings.
[2020 Update: OfferItem’s site is no longer accessible]
50. iOffer
Best for: Just about anything
iOffer is a US-based marketplace with an international reach and a wide range of categories.
They charge small fees based on the final sale price on a progressive scale.
[2020 Update: As of December 2019, the company is no longer operating.]
In conclusion
We hope this list of places to sell online, marketplaces, and platforms comes in handy.
The world of eCommerce is fast growing, and our goal is to keep you informed and ahead of the curve.
If you have worked with platforms or marketplaces that you think we should mention in our next guide, drop us a line in the comments.
Happy selling!